Due to the increasing complexity of applications in the field of informative motor vehicle electronics, which can be called multimedia by now, new concepts have become necessary for networking various devices.
E.g., at least the car radio, mobile telephone and navigation system should be able to communicate with one another bidirectionally so that, e.g. music reproduction of the car radio can be muted and the mobile radio connection can be operated via the radio loudspeakers when the user wishes to call by telephone. However, it can be seen that this is only a very simple application and that hardly any limits are set to the multimedia networking of on-board electronics in order to satisfy the requirements of the customers.
To meet these complex requirements, optical data transmission has been successfully used for these connections in the motor vehicle field. A new standard by the name of MOST® has been separately developed in this regard. The specifications of the MOST® standard are published as “MAMAC specification” Rev 1.0, November 2002, version 1.0-00 at http://www.mostnet.de/downloads/Specifications/MAMACSpecification—1V0-00.pdf and at http://www.mostnet.de/downloads/Specifications/MOST%20Physical%20Layer%20Specification/010233WgPhy Drawings.zip. Reference is herewith made to the aforementioned specification and its content is incorporated into the subject matter of the present disclosure to its full extent by reference.
Optical MOST® connectors are designed for connecting at least two optical waveguides. A number of such connectors are known today.
Referring to the rear connection of the optical waveguides at the connector, it is known to provide the optical waveguides with ferrules and to install these in a holder, each ferrule being pressed by a spiral spring.
However, this construction comprises at least six individual parts which is associated with relatively high production costs.
However, the complex assembly of the multi-part arrangement, which can be called “fumbling” in the case of manual assembly which may be necessary, e.g. during a repair is even more serious.
In this process, there is a risk, for example, that individual parts such as the spiral springs or the holder can be lost during disassembly or assembly so that a replacement part must be procured again before the assembly can be finished. Furthermore, these connectors are subject to faults due to their complexity.
Altogether, this solution is greatly in need of improvement, particularly in order to be competitive in quality and price in the hotly contested market and to be able to withstand the hard workshop operation.